1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-format video decoder and related method, and more particularly, to a multi-format video decoder including shared components of a prediction module in both AC/DC prediction operation and intra prediction operation and a related method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A multi-format video decoder is capable of supporting various kinds of video standards, such as an MPEG-4 specification, a VC-1 specification, an H.264/AVC specification, a RMVB specification, or an AVS specification. For intra-block/intra-macroblock on common video compression technology, there are some correlations between current blocks/macroblocks and neighboring blocks/macroblocks. For example, AC/DC prediction is based on frequency domain and used under the MPEG-4 specification and the VC-1 specification. Intra prediction is based on spatial domain and used under the H.264/AVC specification, the RMVB specification, and the AVS specification.
Typically, individual hardware components for the AC/DC prediction and the intra prediction are required for a multi-format video decoder under different specifications. As a result, individual hardware components may increase cost and occupy chip areas. However, there are lots of similarities between the AC/DC prediction and the intra prediction; and practically the AC/DC prediction and the intra prediction will not be used at the same time for each specification.
Hence, how to save the cost and the chip areas of the multi-format video decoder have become an important topic of the field.